Lesson video

Hello again.

And thanks for returning to our lessons on Animal Farm.

Last lesson, we found out that Napoleon and Squealer were manipulating the other animals.

They were fooling them into thinking that Snowball was actually a criminal and that all of their memories of Snowball being a hero and the wonderful things he did for Animal Farm were completely untrue.

In this lesson, Napoleon goes even further and we begin to see Napoleon really abusing his power as a leader.

In this lesson then, we will start to discover how Napoleon is becoming a tyrant and a dictator.

So when you're ready, please make sure that you have somewhere quiet or somewhere to concentrate as well as finding something to write with and to write on and then we can get started.

Here is your second opportunity to get yourself settled down, so please feel free to press pause and get yourself ready to learn if you need to, but if you're already ready, then let's get started.

So we'll begin with our recap before moving on to some more new vocabulary, you guys are going to have so much new vocab by the end of this unit.

And then we'll have a look at another extract together before answering some questions to make sure we fully understand what's going on.

And then finishing off with your exit quiz, where you get to show off everything you know from today's lesson.

So our recap for today, is asking you which animal is most skilled in manipulating the animals? Is it Napoleon? Is it Snowball? Is it the dogs, or is it Squealer? So which animal is the most skilled in manipulating the animals? Press pause here, select the correct answer and then press play to see if you are correct.

And the correct answer is Squealer.

I'm pretty confident everyone will have got this right but just in case, we'll quickly explain it for everyone.

So Squealer as we know, is "The brilliant talker".

Yeah, that's a quotation from the story itself.

He is able to turn black into white.

He's super persuasive, and we've had a look at the rhetoric he uses to manipulate the animals.

Snowball managed to get them onside, when he was talking about the windmill, but he wasn't skilled in manipulation.

Napoleon uses Squealer to do all of the manipulation and the dogs are simply there for violence when they're necessary.

So the correct answer is Squealer.

New vocabulary alert.

Our new word for today is corruption.

Now I'm sure that a lot of you will have probably heard this word around before, but you maybe just haven't quite understood it.

Some of you might be completely confident with it and some of you might have never, ever heard it before.

So we are going to define it and then look at some examples.

So our new word is corruption.

Now, corruption is dishonest actions by those in power.

So let's have a look at some examples of corruption being used in sentences.

"A corrupt leader uses power for their own advantage.

The president was corrupt.

He was taking bribes to pass laws." Now bribes are probably the most commonly known corruption.

So a lot of people know what bribes are and how that shows that a leader is dishonest.

So that is a really excellent example of corruption.

Someone taking money or gifts, something in the form of a bribe, in order to get something back in their favour.

So let's have a think about which of the following is the most accurate definition of corruption.

Is it a leader who treats people badly? Is it the dishonest actions of someone in power? Is it a leader telling lies? Or is it a government using propaganda? So press pause, select the correct option and then press play when you're ready.

And the correct answer is option two.

So being corrupt is carrying out dishonest actions if you are someone in power.

Now, some of you may have chosen option three I think, it's probably the most likely that we've been confused about.

However, corruption is much more than just telling lies because corruption requires actual actions as well.

Things like taking bribes, giving bribes, et cetera.

So it's more about the actions of the person in power than what they say.

Now we're going to move on to Animal Farm but I just want to kind of paint a picture of where we're at in the story.

"The animals do not have meetings anymore because the pigs make all the decisions.

Napoleon sends Squealer to explain anything that the animals are confused about." So that's the situation on the farm at the moment.

And the extracts we're going to read shows us Napoleon abusing his power.

It shows us Napoleon being corrupt.

His actions as a leader are not okay.

He is taking advantage of the fact that he has power.

He's abusing the power he has, with the actions that he's carrying out.

So let's see what Napoleon's up to.

"Napoleon announces that the farm will start trading with humans and the hens are told that they need to sacrifice their eggs." So if you remember at the very beginning with the seven commandments, so if you remember at the very beginning with Old Major, Old Major warned the animals to not take on the habits of the humans, and he specifically mentioned trade and he said, animals should not trade.

And now Napoleon in power has announced that the farm will start trading.

And not only that they'll start trading, but that the hens need to sacrifice their eggs for this to happen.

Now, just a quick reminder, dramatic irony.

Dramatic irony is when the reader or audience know something the characters don't.

And the example that I just gave you is going to come in handy, because as readers, we know everything very clearly.

We know what Old Major said and we know what the original seven commandments were.

So we know those, but as we're about to find out, the animals are confused about what they can remember.

So Orwell is using dramatic irony, because we know stuff that the characters don't.

"Never to have any dealings with human beings, never to engage in trade, never to make use of money, had not these been among the earliest resolutions passed at that first triumphant meeting after Jones was expelled? All the animals remembered passing such resolutions or at least they thought that they remembered it.

The four young pigs who had protested when Napoleon abolished the meetings raised their voices timidly, but they were promptly silenced by tremendous growling from the dogs.

Then as usual, the sheep broke into, four legs good, two legs bad.

And the momentary awkwardness was smoothed over." So here we can see the dramatic irony.

That the animals are saying, "Well, at the beginning, I thought that we said that we can't have money, we can't trade with human beings.

As soon as Jones was expelled, that's what we said, we all agreed on that.

But, at least they thought that they remembered it." And this is the important part, they think they remember but they're not a hundred percent certain, but we know as the readers that that did happen.

So that's where we have dramatic irony.

"Had not these been among the earliest resolutions passed at that first triumphant meeting?" So that quotation is showing us the dramatic irony in this extract.

So, what I would like you to do now is have a go at answering the two questions on the screen.

How do the animals feel about trading with humans? In your answer, I would like you to include the three words; animals, confused and dramatic irony.

It's technically four words, so the three different parts that I've put on the screen I want you to include; animals, confused and dramatic irony.

They must all be included in your answer.

And then the second question, what happens when some pigs protest? I want you to include sheep, dogs, threaten, control and Napoleon.

So if you need to, you can rewind the video to get the extract on your screen.

But if you have the extract already printed out and in front of you, you can just use that and leave your screen on this one.

So press pause, have a go at answering those questions using the words you've been given and then press play when you're ready.

So, here are some possible answers that you might have written.

For the first question, the animals are confused about what they remember, but as readers we know the truth because Orwell has used dramatic irony.

So as long as you've got something in there about the confusion of the animals but the dramatic irony that Orwell has used makes the readers know the truth, then that's a great answer.

As long as you've included the ideas that I've got there.

Second question, the sheep interrupt and the dogs threaten the pigs by growling, therefore showing how they are controlled by Napoleon.

Now, I think most of you will have definitely got the first bit correct because you know that the sheep interrupt with their four legs good, two legs bad, and you know that the dogs are growling, they're threatening the pigs.

The challenging bit for that question was control and Napoleon.

And I wanted you to add in something about the fact that both the sheep and the dogs are being controlled by Napoleon.

So if you didn't quite get that bit, you can add that on now.

And if you did get that bit, that's really, really impressive.

So a massive well done for that.

Let's move on to the next part of the extract.

"It was about this time that the pigs suddenly moved into the farmhouse and took up their residence there.

Again, the animals seemed to remember that a resolution against this had been passed in the early days.

And again, Squealer was able to convince them that this was not the case.

It was absolutely necessary, he said, that the pigs who were the brains of the farm should have a quiet place to work in.

It was also more suited to the dignity of the leader, for of late he had taken to speaking of Napoleon under the title of leader, to live in a house than in a mere sty.

Nevertheless, some of the animals were disturbed when they heard that the pigs not only took their meals in the kitchen and used the drawing room as a recreation room, but also slept in the beds." So in this extract here, we find out that the pigs have started living in the farmhouse.

If you remember, at the very beginning of us looking at this, when the rebellion had just happened the animals went into the farmhouse and they all agreed that no one would live there and that it would stay as a museum.

So the fact that the pigs have now chosen to move into the farmhouse is showing them abusing their power.

Their actions are corrupt.

And not only are they living in the farmhouse, but they're eating in the kitchen, they're using the drawing room, which we would call that a living room, as a recreation room, so a place to relax and play games, but they're also sleeping in the beds.

So not only are they living in the farmhouse but they are living like who? Who are the pigs living like? I reckon most of you shouted humans at the screen, which is perfect.

They are living like humans.

So they're corrupt, they're abusing their power.

So what I would like you to do now, is annotate the quotation on the screen.

How does the quotation show Napoleon is a corrupt leader? If you have the extract in front of you, you can find this quotation and highlight it.

If you don't, I want you to pause the video to copy down the quotation.

Once you've got it copied down, or you've highlighted it, you then need to answer the question by adding arrows around the quotation, similar to how we've done in lots of lessons before.

So how does the quotation show Napoleon is a corrupt leader? Underline or highlight the parts of that quotation, that show Napoleon is corrupt.

Press pause, have a go, try your best and then press play when you're ready.

Okay, let's see how you did.

I'll share mine with you and you can always add to your own if you haven't included everything.

So the first thing I've underlined is under the title of leader.

And the comment I've added there is that Napoleon is becoming a tyrant and dictator.

The fact that his name is being changed to Leader, okay? So Squealer doesn't call him by his name anymore.

He's now called Leader.

And what that does is suggest that he's more important than everyone else because he doesn't have a name, he's just called Leader.

And this is showing complete control.

Here's the one leader, which therefore shows him as a tyrant and a dictator.

And then finally the fact that he lives in a house instead of mere, M E R E, that just means simply, okay? So the fact that Napoleon lives in a house instead of just a simple sty, which is where pigs usually live, this shows us he's corrupt, because he's abusing his power.

He is taking advantage of the fact that he's the leader and he has all of this power, so he will live in a house while all of the other animals have to carry on living in their styes or their pens.

So he's corrupt, he's abusing his power.

If you already had these written down, huge well done, big pat on the back, big thumbs up.

If you need to add to your work, then please do so now by pressing pause.

And then we will continue as soon as you're ready.

This is the next extract we're going to read together.

"Boxer passed it off as usual with Napoleon is always right, but Clover who thought she remembered a definite ruling against beds, went to the end of the barn and tried to puzzle out the seven commandments, which were inscribed there.

Finding herself unable to read more than individual letters, she fetched Muriel.

Muriel, she said, read me the fourth commandment.

Does it not say something about never sleeping in a bed? With some difficulty Muriel spelt it out.

It says no animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets, she announced finally.

Curiously enough, Clover had not remembered that the fourth commandment mentioned sheets but as it was there on the wall, it must have done so." So with this extract, we can really see all of the vocabulary and ideas that we've learned coming together.

We can see that because the animals are naive, they assume that it must have always been on the wall.

It doesn't even cross their minds that the pigs have added it on.

To them it has always been there, so we can see naivety.

We can see manipulation and propaganda because the commandments are being used to manipulate the animals into thinking that Napoleon is not doing anything wrong.

And we can see corruption because Napoleon is doing something wrong.

He's broken a commandment and instead of saying, "Yeah, do you know what? I've broken it." He's just changed the commandment.

He's just changed the rule, so that it fits in with what he wants.

That is corrupt.

So this final part of the extract is a really excellent example of dramatic irony.

As I've explained, dramatic irony, we as readers know that the fourth commandment did not have that extra bit on the end.

We know that, and we can flick back in the book and we can see that.

But the characters do not know.

The characters think that it's always been like it.

So Orwell is using dramatic irony.

Let's read the next part together.

"You have heard then, comrades, he said, that we pigs now sleep in the beds of the farmhouse.

And why not? You did not suppose, surely, that there was ever a ruling against beds.

A bed merely means a place to sleep in, a pile of straw in a stall is a bed, properly regarded.

The rule was against sheets, which are a human invention.

We have removed the sheets from the farmhouse beds and sleep between blankets and very comfortable beds they are too.

You would not have us too tired to carry out our duties.

Surely none of you wishes to see Jones back?" Guess who's talking here.

I'll give you three guesses but I'm pretty sure you only need one.

Yes, it is Squealer.

Squealer has been sent to explain to the animals why the pigs are sleeping in beds.

And he gets around it by saying, "Well, we don't use sheets.

We sleep in blankets." And then he does the classic thing that he's done over and over again, of saying that if the pigs were not doing this, then Jones would come back and the pigs are doing this to make sure Jones doesn't come back.

So we can see that he repeats this all the time.

He's playing on the fears of the pigs, okay? The pigs are scared.

He's playing on the fears of the animals.

The animals are terrified of Jones coming back.

So as soon as Squealer says, "Well, we need to do this to stop him coming back", Squealer knows they will be onside immediately.

So I would like you to do an activity very similar to the one you've already done.

The question this time is, how does Squealer explain the pigs are sleeping in beds? And I've given you two quotations this time.

So as always, if you have the extract, find those quotations.

If you do not have the extract, write them down with plenty of space for you to annotate around them.

Find the parts of the two quotations that tell us how Squealer explains the pigs sleeping in beds.

Pause the video here and then press play when you'd like some feedback.

Good luck.

Okay, so for the first one, I've labelled this as corruption, because as readers, we know that the rules are being changed, don't we? So we can see that this is corruption.

That instead of just admitting that they've broken the rules, actually the leaders are breaking the rules and then they are lying and they're changing the rules for their own benefit.

So that's very, very clear corruption.

And for the second one, I've put that Squealer is taking advantage of the animals' naivety.

Again, scaring them with what could happen, playing on the fears of the animals.

Pretty confident you all did really well on this one, which is absolutely wonderful, well done.

If think you need some more time to understand this, you can pause the video and add some notes to your work.

You can even rewind and listen to the explanation again if you need to, but if not, let's move forward together.

So there are three sentences on the screen in front of you.

All three sentences are relating to everything we've spoken about in the lesson today.

So I would like you to complete those sentences that are on the screen, press pause, try your absolute best and then press play when you're ready to check your answers.

So here are some possible answers you may have written.

Number one, we can tell Napoleon is corrupt as a leader because he's breaking the rules and then lying to the animals about the original rules.

So we have two reasons here.

He's corrupt because he's breaking the rules, not good if you're a leader, but then to make it even worse, he's lying about the original rules.

You might have even added something here about Napoleon changing the rules to suit his own needs, which is absolutely brilliant.

Number two, when the animals think they remember a rule about no animal living in the farmhouse, Squealer is sent to explain why this rule does not apply to the pigs.

So for number two, I was looking for you to come up with an answer that tells me what happens when the animals think they remember a rule and every time they think they have a memory, out comes Squealer.

He's there, he's ready to explain, or manipulate as we know, and ready to convince the animals that what they remember is not true.

And finally, number three Orwell uses dramatic irony when the commandments are changed and the animals are confused.

So Orwell uses dramatic irony when the rules or the commandments are changed, because as readers we know they've been changed, but the characters do not know they've been changed.

So that is dramatic irony.

That's our lesson complete.

Lesson 17 was all about Napoleon and the farmhouse and the corruption that he starts as a leader with breaking the rules and then changing them.

If you have completed any work that you're super proud of today, which you definitely should have done, then please ask your parent or carer to share your work on Twitter.

So our Twitter handle is @OakNational and our hashtag is LearnwithOak, and it would be lovely to see how hard you were working.

I will see you soon for another lesson exploring what happens next on Animal Farm.